miR‐1301‐3p promotes invasion and migration and EMT progression in esophageal cancer by downregulating NBL1 expression

BACKGROUND: Esophageal cancer (ESCA) is one of the most aggressive and lethal human malignant cancers. MicroRNA‐1301‐3p (miR‐1301‐3p) plays vital roles in a majority of malignancies. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of miR‐1301‐3p/NBL1 axis on ESCA cell invasion, migration, epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) process, as well as its association with prognosis of ESCA patients. METHODS: The expression levels of miR‐1301‐3p and NBL1 were predicted by bioinformatics and further verified by RT‐qPCR assays. Kaplan–Meier (K–M) plotter analysis and univariate and multivariate Cox analyses were used to evaluate the relationship between miR‐1301‐3p and clinicopathological variables and prognosis. The role of miR‐1301‐3p on cell invasion, migration was detected by transwell invasion, and wound healing assays, respectively. The EMT‐related proteins were detected by western blot. The target genes and the target binding sites were predicted by bioinformatics and further determined by RT‐qPCR assay. RESULTS: MiR‐1301‐3p was remarkably upregulated in ESCA tissues and cells, and its high expression was associated with poor prognosis of ESCA. Overexpression of miR‐1301‐3p promoted ESCA cell invasion, migration and mediated EMT process in vitro, whereas knockdown of miR‐1301‐3p showed the opposite effects. Moreover, NBL1 was predicted as a target gene of miR‐1301‐3p. NBL1 was lowly expressed in ESCA cells and significantly decreased after upregulation of miR‐1301‐3p. Meanwhile, we found that low expression of NBL1 was significantly associated with poor prognosis of ESCA patients. CONCLUSION: MiR‐1301‐3p is a potential biomarker for predicting the prognosis of ESCA patients. It may promote ESCA invasion, migration and EMT progression by regulating NBL1 expression.